Dulsie’s words caught Shad a bit by surprise even though this was a familiar topic. “We are keeping the peace.”

“It’s more like a cease fire – or a cold war.” Dulsie’s smile sharpened. “Both of you have gotten comfortable with the way things are. Ever since we got engaged I’ve been waiting for this to blow over. I see now that’s not gonna happen unless one of you changes something.”

“And by one of us you happen to mean me?”

Dulsie smirked. “I have more influence over you.” She sighed slightly. “I kept thinking that when you never wigged out Mom would finally agree you were the right man for me. But I’m tired of waiting, and I don’t wanna have to explain to our kids why there’s this weird dynamic with their dad and grandma.”

Shad almost blurted out “What kids?” before he realized Dulsie was referring to the future. Back in the fall, while she was still twenty-five, Dulsie informed Shad that she was beginning to hear a ticking noise. They were still young enough she was content to let nature take care of itself, but also fully aware they were old enough that success at conception might take several months.

Shad harbored some reservation about his ability in regard to that goal – no, he wasn’t going to think about Brody – but they had been married for just over six years and had been incredibly successful at contraception, despite a few “risks” taken over that time which often bequeathed other couples with babies. Jill must have said something today that caused Dulsie to reconsider the merits of their family status.

“You know,” Shad replied, “in some Native American cultures, the husband is supposed to avoid his mother-in-law at all costs.”

“We aren’t Apaches.” Dulsie removed her hand from his and reached into one of her slacks pockets. “Remember when the two of you used to like each other?”

“I still like Jill.”

Dulsie locked her gaze on his again as she pulled a set of keys out from the pocket. “You have a funny way of showing it.”

“It’s because of respect I stay outta her way.” Shad shook his head. “And she doesn’t play mind games with me. Believe me, it could be much worse.”

“Like I said, both of you have gotten comfortable with this little arrangement.” Dulsie stepped toward the driver’s side door of the car. “I’ve figured out the only power I can sway in this matter is to make it uncomfortable.”

Shad watched Dulsie unlock the car door and open it. “Are you going after her, too?”

Dulsie’s eyes rolled before she looked at him again. “I’ve been working on her all these years. Pointing out all the great things you do. Singing your praises every chance I can get. What I’ve finally figured out is that Mom isn’t going to believe you’ve changed unless you change something.”

Shad almost hated to admit it, but what Dulsie just said was brilliant. If anything, he was surprised it had taken her this long to come to that conclusion. It certainly would never have occurred to him.

Shad stepped over to the passenger side door as Dulsie slipped behind the steering wheel. After getting seated and closing the door, he leaned into the back seat area to place the leather case on the upholstered bench. As Dulsie clicked on her seatbelt, Shad turned toward his wife and gripped the steering wheel with his right hand.

“I love you,” Shad murmured as he leaned closer to Dulsie.

“Don’t change the subject,” she growled just before they kissed. As their lips parted she smiled at him. “I love you, too. But you’re not off the hook.”

Shad settled into the seat and fastened the safety belt as Dulsie started the car’s engine.

“Anyway, it’s time for you to quit dodging her,” Dulsie stated as she steered the car into the street and began their drive home.

“Umm....” Shad figured he had to respond, but he had no idea what to say.

Why couldn’t he just handle one thing at a time? While Shad knew he needed to follow through with Dulsie’s request – Pap had warned him never to disregard the instructions of a Leeds Woman – his larger concern was figuring out what to do about Wally.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Shad finally replied a few seconds after his stammer.

Although Dulsie’s revelation was one of the last things he wanted to hear about right now, Shad knew she was looking out for his best interests. Dulsie, after all, was the unexpected answer to his most desperate prayers.

Chapter Four

A man is what he is, not what he used to be.

--Yiddish proverb

Dulsie thought about the future as usual that Saturday morning while she harvested some vegetables from the garden with Shad’s help and the dog’s supervision.

The garden was the only cultivated ground on the little five-acre farm the two of them rented. It was a small plot, not nearly as large as Dulsie planned on tending someday, but this morning she still had a decent harvest of squash, beans, tomatoes and okra. The garden was laid out behind and to the side of the compact, single-story farmhouse they lived in. More directly behind the house was a modest and weathered wood shed where they kept the lawn mower and garden tools. Farther back and to the other side of the home was the gate to the turkey pasture which claimed most of what remained of the land. Since they lived on the backside of the property owner’s farm, there was plenty of other land around them, with the nearest neighbor living half a mile down the road.

With the owner’s permission they improved the fencing around that field when Dulsie and Shad moved in three years ago. Immediately afterward they built a simple shed that was just large enough to house thirty turkeys. Finally Dulsie purchased twenty-five poults and a Great Pyrenees puppy, and began the task of establishing her future heritage turkey farm.

These weren’t the commercial, broad-breasted white turkeys like Dad raised for almost forty years. During her childhood Dulsie wondered where all the turkeys were that looked like the ones decorating the school around Thanksgiving, so she developed a quest to find them. Dulsie received an education on the history of turkey raising and eventually discovered the foundation stock for the commercial birds were the “standard” bronze variety that were more reminiscent of the wild turkeys. This variety had become rare, so Dulsie became part of a group dedicated to preserving the old-fashioned birds. As an added benefit their silly antics amused her, and Dulsie was convinced that turkeys were proof God had a sense of humor.

The numbers fluctuated as surplus toms and cull hens were sold or butchered and more poults hatched in the spring. But Dulsie’s little flock had grown to the size their small acreage could handle. When her parents proposed earlier this year to sell their own farm to Dulsie and Shad next spring, after Mom retired from her job with the electric cooperative, Dulsie was elated.

Dad was sixty-three years old now, and her parents had more stumbled into turkey farming than planned on it. While they were a young couple looking for a farm to buy, an eighty-acre place with four barns and a rather neglected house came up for sale. Since Dad had heard that the only thing dumber than turkeys was the person who raised them, he figured he qualified for the work. Unlike Uncle Pax, who planned on remaining with the family farm until he was either too weak or too muddled to labor in the fields anymore, Dad always planned on retiring while he had many good years left in him. Her parents hoped to buy a nice little house around the nearby old German community of Westphalia.

Since both of Dulsie’s older brothers had relocated into other parts of the state and were leading lives that didn’t involve turkeys – at least not the feathered variety – and Dulsie apparently had succumbed to some kind of genetic defect that caused her to be interested in turkeys, her parents figured she would have use for the farm. When Dad told them a few months ago that by spring next year they’d like to move on, he pointed out that Shad, who had lots of experience in property transfers, could take care of the legal aspects. Shad hemmed and hawed for a few seconds before commenting that Dad was proposing the kind of situation Shad would never advise a client to do: conduct business within the family. Dad laughed and remarked, “That only applies to normal families. We aren’t normal!” Shad got her father’s point and agreed to take care of the paperwork.